Lola win at Sebring

Monday 21st March 2011

Lola scored a memorable class win in the LMP2 category and its customer cars finished 6th and 7th overall at the 59th running of the Sebring 12 hours this weekend. On the tough, bumpy airfield circuit in central Florida, temperatures reached up to 85 degrees Fahrenheit and with 55 cars on the grid, the Lola entered prototype sports cars showed they had the pace and durability to start the season with a victory.

The Level 5 Motorsports team celebrated a class triumph after a near faultless drive by Scott Tucker, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Luis Diaz, who finished ten laps clear of the second-placed car. The team, in conjunction with the Lola factory worked day and night to get the HPD powered cars to the season opening race. With no testing the Level 5 team quickly got to grips with the open cockpit and Coupe cars and had a reliable run to the flag. The winning car was delayed only by a minor wheel nut problem early in the race. The sister Level 5 Lola-HPD Coupe of Scott Tucker, Christophe Bouchut and Joao Barbosa finished in 4th place.

“We kept the Lola clean and never had a scratch on it. The team and all the Lola guys did a fantastic job. This victory tastes very sweet and is the start we all dreamed of,” said team driver Ryan Hunter Reay.
Lola saw two of its teams finishing in the top ten overall. Chris Dyson, Guy Smith and Jay Cochran had a strong, clean race, and made good use of the yellow flags to improve their positions before finishing sixth in the LMP1 class with their Lola-Mazda LMP1. The result puts Dyson 2nd in the ALMS points standings and puts them in a good position for a title campaign in 2011.

Rebellion Racing finished 7th overall despite being delayed by contact during the race, which saw them having to change the rear bodywork of the Lola. The Swiss team also took a conservative approach to the set up in order to achieve a top finish.

The Rebellion Lola-Toyota team put more than 26 hours on their new Toyota engine without fault during the Sebring week, an encouraging sign for the Le Mans 24 Hours in June and the forthcoming Le Mans Series.

“I am happy with the result. My pace was good and I felt confident with the Lola-Toyota,” said Bleekemolen. “We have accomplished a lot of work since last week in France and I feel great in the team, I really enjoy to share the drive with Neel and Nico. I can’t wait to be at Le Mans for the test day in April.”

Rebellion Racing, along with all of the other Sebring runners sported a special tribute message to the Japanese nation after the natural disasters in the country last week. Click here to find out how you can help - www.jrc.or.jp/english

The Cytosport Lola Aston Martin retired after 151 laps after a bearing failure caused the oil temperatures in the gearbox to rise, and the team retired the car in the seventh hour.
At least five Lola sports cars are back in action at the Paul Ricard 8 Hours on April 2nd in the first round of the 2011 Le Mans Series.